WEBVTT 00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:01.199 Hello, Church. 00:00:02.640 --> 00:00:07.440 Hear now the word of the true and living God in Matthew eleven, starting in verse twenty-five. 00:00:07.919 --> 00:00:18.000 At that time Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. 00:00:18.239 --> 00:00:21.199 Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 00:00:21.440 --> 00:00:32.479 All things have been handed over to me by my Father, and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son, and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:37.119 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 00:00:37.439 --> 00:00:44.399 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 00:00:44.640 --> 00:00:47.679 For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 00:00:47.920 --> 00:00:49.039 This is the word of the Lord. 00:00:49.200 --> 00:00:50.399 Please be seated. 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:53.280 Good afternoon. 00:00:54.159 --> 00:00:55.119 Thanks for joining us. 00:00:55.280 --> 00:00:56.799 Welcome to Redemption Church Denver. 00:00:56.880 --> 00:00:59.039 My name is James Raffman, I'm the pastor here. 00:00:59.280 --> 00:01:03.840 We uh uh yeah, really looking forward to worshiping with you today. 00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:05.920 Um got a couple of announcements. 00:01:06.000 --> 00:01:09.200 We have a baby dedication coming up on October 20th. 00:01:09.439 --> 00:01:10.959 So, yeah, that's right. 00:01:11.120 --> 00:01:11.680 Matthew. 00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:15.120 Matthew, you I know you love baby dedications, always have. 00:01:15.359 --> 00:01:19.519 And uh uh so if you have a baby that you would like to dedicate, uh bring it. 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:20.480 We'll dedicate it. 00:01:20.640 --> 00:01:30.159 The way to sign up for that is uh if you go on the app and you tap calendar, uh you'll see that there's an event there called baby dedication for October 20th. 00:01:30.319 --> 00:01:34.239 Just tap on the sign up link and you'll be able to sign up through that link. 00:01:34.319 --> 00:01:37.680 It's all very intuitive and web 2.0. 00:01:38.159 --> 00:01:40.879 I don't think web 2.0 is a thing anymore. 00:01:41.439 --> 00:01:43.599 It's all very augmented reality. 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:46.000 Just saying words, I don't know what they mean. 00:01:46.159 --> 00:01:47.519 Let's pray quick. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:55.439 Father, yours is the kingdom, the power, the glory. 00:01:57.840 --> 00:01:59.200 You hold us fast. 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:04.079 What amazing news. 00:02:05.200 --> 00:02:07.280 What a comfort for our souls. 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:13.919 Lord, you've given us your word that we might hear clearly from you. 00:02:14.080 --> 00:02:22.639 I pray that today you would by your spirit plant your word in our hearts. 00:02:23.439 --> 00:02:29.840 That way we might not know our imaginations of you, but we might know who you really are. 00:02:31.919 --> 00:02:34.560 That we might take incredible comfort in that. 00:02:34.879 --> 00:02:36.960 Father, we lift this up in Jesus' name. 00:02:37.280 --> 00:02:37.919 Amen. 00:02:39.120 --> 00:03:00.800 So we are in the midst of a series called Redemption Applied, and what we're doing is we're uh basically casting the vision for what Redemption Church Denver is, what our hope is for our impact in the city, what are our core values that we want to see really move into and be embodied by the culture of our church. 00:03:01.039 --> 00:03:09.280 So the first sermon in the series was about how the gospel is the power and purpose of all that we do as a church. 00:03:09.599 --> 00:03:23.759 So the good news is that Jesus died for our sins and that he is reconciling all things to himself because he's made peace between us and God by the blood of his cross. 00:03:23.919 --> 00:03:28.560 And so that means he's radically transforming our hearts. 00:03:28.800 --> 00:03:33.280 And when he transforms our hearts, he creates this new community of people. 00:03:33.680 --> 00:03:38.719 And by this new community of people, he has intentions to redeem all of creation. 00:03:38.960 --> 00:03:41.039 And so that's the outline of our series. 00:03:41.199 --> 00:03:46.080 We're going through three different parts, which are heart, community, and Denver. 00:03:46.400 --> 00:03:49.759 Because those are that's how we see God's redemption playing out. 00:03:49.840 --> 00:04:00.000 And so we're doing three sermons on heart, three sermons on community, which is about our church, and three sermons on Denver, our city, how we intend to impact our city. 00:04:00.240 --> 00:04:04.080 So this is the third and last of our heart series. 00:04:05.039 --> 00:04:10.319 And what we've looked at so far are the ways that the gospel changes our heart. 00:04:10.479 --> 00:04:24.000 The first thing that we saw is that the gospel is not just news that we can incorporate into our normal way of living, but it's news that when we incorporate it into our lives, it changes the way that we view everything. 00:04:24.240 --> 00:04:44.399 It's not just some extra information, but it's so fundamental that when you learn this, when you see that this is true, that God became a man, that he became a man and then he died, and then he was resurrected from the dead, you realize, well, this changes what I think about the most fundamental categories that I had as a person. 00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:46.639 God and man, not the same thing. 00:04:46.879 --> 00:04:48.720 Have you heard the gospel lately? 00:04:49.199 --> 00:04:51.439 Death is final. 00:04:52.079 --> 00:04:53.519 Have you heard the gospel lately? 00:04:53.680 --> 00:04:56.639 You see, it destroys these categories that we normally have. 00:04:56.800 --> 00:04:58.879 And so it requires a conversion. 00:04:59.120 --> 00:05:02.240 And when our hearts are converted, they change. 00:05:02.560 --> 00:05:05.759 We become a new creation, different types of people. 00:05:06.000 --> 00:05:32.399 But oftentimes, because the gospel is so new, because it's such a unique event that took place in the world and there's nothing else like it, it can be easy for us to think that we've gotten the gospel, to think that we've understood what the good news of Jesus really is, only to find out that we've slid into one of the two pitfalls that we commonly fall into when trying to understand the gospel. 00:05:32.639 --> 00:05:36.800 And these two pitfalls are what last week's sermon and this week's sermon are about. 00:05:37.040 --> 00:05:41.759 These are the pitfalls of religion and irreligion. 00:05:42.079 --> 00:05:59.360 Or you could think of it as uh legalism, which tries to earn its salvation, or a, sorry for this word, antinomianism, which means a lawlessness, which means that because Christ has paid for my sins, it doesn't matter how I live. 00:05:59.600 --> 00:06:05.360 So those are the two pitfalls that we often fall into, and the gospel corrects both of those. 00:06:05.519 --> 00:06:09.600 Those are the opposites of each other, but they're not opposites of the gospel. 00:06:09.680 --> 00:06:12.160 The gospel is its own thing. 00:06:13.439 --> 00:06:19.920 So the question is, how do I know if I've fallen into one of these two pitfalls? 00:06:20.160 --> 00:06:26.000 How do I know if I'm living as though grace is cheap and so it doesn't matter how I live? 00:06:26.319 --> 00:06:37.360 Or if I'm living as though uh Jesus' sacrifice didn't really accomplish all of what I need to be saved and I need to bring something else to the table. 00:06:37.839 --> 00:06:45.360 Well, a good way to check is to assess has your heart been transformed? 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:57.279 When you consider how the news of the gospel has taken place in your life, would you say, because of my understanding of the gospel, I'm fundamentally different? 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:03.839 There's ways in which I know I would have viewed the world, and I just can't view the world in that way anymore. 00:07:04.079 --> 00:07:07.519 There's positions I would have taken that I now walk away from. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:11.279 There's arguments I would have walked away from that now I enter into. 00:07:11.439 --> 00:07:14.959 And when I enter into them, I don't leave feeling bad. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:21.360 Has the gospel so fundamentally changed your heart? 00:07:23.120 --> 00:07:24.639 Has it borne fruit? 00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:37.839 Well, if it hasn't, it's likely that what you've experienced, what you've encountered, what you've known, it may not be the gospel at all. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:46.480 But it may be just your religion, which says it doesn't really matter how you live. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:52.000 It's not that Christ transformed your heart, it's just now you can know that you're saved. 00:07:52.560 --> 00:07:56.800 So just think about that all the time, and it doesn't matter how you live. 00:07:57.680 --> 00:08:07.839 Or does the gospel mean to you, okay, Jesus is this great example that if I'm like him, then I know I'll be right with God. 00:08:08.800 --> 00:08:10.319 These are the two pitfalls. 00:08:10.480 --> 00:08:20.160 So last week we looked at your religion, and the way that your religion manifests itself in our culture is the idol or the key value of self-expression. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:31.360 So self-expression says that the what salvation really means is I look into myself and I say, here's the real me, who I really am. 00:08:31.680 --> 00:08:37.360 And my highest goal in life is to live out this real me of who I think I really am. 00:08:37.600 --> 00:08:42.960 And Jesus' answer to that is if you try and keep that life, you'll die. 00:08:43.279 --> 00:08:47.039 But if you give up that life for me, you will live. 00:08:47.519 --> 00:08:55.759 So Jesus calls us to bear our cross with him against his, against our cheap grace vision of his gospel. 00:08:56.480 --> 00:09:03.360 This week we are looking at the religious lens, religion or self-righteousness or legalism. 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:07.840 Those things which say, I can accomplish my own salvation. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:19.919 So today, when we're focusing on religion, a helpful question to help diagnose like, am I living in this sort of religious way? 00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:25.360 Am I living in this legalistic, sort of moralistic bound way? 00:09:26.000 --> 00:09:28.240 Consider how you would answer this question. 00:09:28.559 --> 00:09:30.159 Are you a Christian? 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:32.559 And how do you know? 00:09:33.600 --> 00:09:44.240 So, one answer to that question, I'm I'm pulling this, ripping off Martin Lloyd-Jones, who's this great preacher from London in the 60s. 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:47.519 Uh he actually preached uh Austin Powers. 00:09:50.080 --> 00:09:51.519 Yeah, it's not true. 00:09:51.759 --> 00:09:55.440 Um, it's the my only London 60s connection. 00:09:58.320 --> 00:10:01.759 So we might answer, you know, am I a Christian right now? 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:04.720 Look, I'm not really sure lately, to be honest. 00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:11.360 I I haven't been as consistent as I've wanted to be with like church attendance or with reading the Bible. 00:10:11.440 --> 00:10:14.320 I I don't really read the Bible and it's not really part of my life. 00:10:14.480 --> 00:10:18.320 I try and be a good person, and so I know that that counts for something. 00:10:18.960 --> 00:10:23.200 If if your answer sounds something like that, you might be a legalist. 00:10:23.360 --> 00:10:29.679 I'm gonna have a little Jeff Foxworthy morning, evening, you might be a legalist. 00:10:29.840 --> 00:10:34.320 If your answer sounds something like, yes, I know I'm a Christian, and here's how I know. 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:38.960 I know because I I haven't missed a quiet time. 00:10:39.519 --> 00:10:44.559 And if you look at my YouTube history, it is all theology debates. 00:10:45.519 --> 00:11:00.000 And if you uh uh you know, if I ever meet a non-Christian, if if a Jehovah's Witness ever knocks at my door, I know exactly how to show them that they aren't uh living the true gospel. 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:02.559 And so, yeah, I know I'm a Christian. 00:11:02.799 --> 00:11:06.879 If that's your answer, you might be a legalist. 00:11:07.759 --> 00:11:20.399 Both of those make your salvation centered on your own story, something that you either are bringing to the table or aren't bringing to the table. 00:11:20.639 --> 00:11:31.600 But ultimately, the deciding factor on whether or not you can stand before God righteously, the deciding factor on whether your life is meaningful before God is you. 00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:38.080 So what you're attaining here, what you're working towards here is self-salvation. 00:11:38.320 --> 00:11:44.240 Both operate under the assumption that I am here to save myself. 00:11:44.720 --> 00:11:55.840 Now, in our culture, and I think I think this is true of Denver culture generally, and I think this is true, this seeps into our church culture because of that. 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:05.360 The way that we talk about this, just like we don't talk about ear religion in terms of like, oh, I'm going to lead a very licentious lifestyle. 00:12:05.600 --> 00:12:11.840 Uh instead, we say, I'm really trying to just express my true self in the world. 00:12:12.159 --> 00:12:22.000 For legalism, we wouldn't say, man, I'm really trying to pursue this, uh, I'm really trying to like accomplish salvation by works alone. 00:12:22.320 --> 00:12:24.080 Uh we wouldn't say that. 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:31.440 But what we do is we tend to lean on tools and tactics to save us. 00:12:32.000 --> 00:12:34.960 What does your hope functionally lie in? 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:50.080 When you look at the way that you live your life, when you look at the way that you try and accomplish peace, I bet behind that curtain are is some list of tools and tactics that you're trying to incorporate into your life. 00:12:50.720 --> 00:12:53.759 So here's what that sounds like. 00:12:53.919 --> 00:12:59.600 It's like, look, uh Jesus promises peace that surpasses understanding. 00:12:59.840 --> 00:13:01.759 And you're not experiencing that. 00:13:02.000 --> 00:13:09.360 And the reason you're probably not experiencing peace that surpasses understanding is because your faith has become too cerebral. 00:13:09.600 --> 00:13:15.919 And you need to get in touch with the contemplative Christianity of the desert fathers. 00:13:16.240 --> 00:13:20.480 Desert Fathers is Christian lingo for we don't know where this came from. 00:13:21.039 --> 00:13:23.519 So just say the desert fathers invented it. 00:13:23.600 --> 00:13:24.639 That's just like a tip. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:27.519 Whenever you're like debating a seminarian. 00:13:27.840 --> 00:13:30.240 Be like, well, the desert fathers said, oh. 00:13:32.080 --> 00:13:34.080 So you're being too cerebral. 00:13:34.240 --> 00:13:40.240 You need to be more contemplative and get your faith in touch with the more emotional side of who you are. 00:13:40.320 --> 00:13:42.080 That's why you're not experiencing peace. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:42.879 Great news. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:44.399 I just wrote a book about it. 00:13:44.559 --> 00:13:47.759 I can sell you this book on how to be a more contemplative Christian. 00:13:47.919 --> 00:13:49.120 This will give you peace. 00:13:49.360 --> 00:13:57.440 Once you're more contemplative, on the other side of this book, then you'll have discovered what the real peace of Christ really is. 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:03.039 Of course, there's just the opposite, which is, you know, you were promised peace in Christ. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:04.559 And are you really experiencing that? 00:14:04.720 --> 00:14:04.960 No. 00:14:05.120 --> 00:14:05.840 Do you know why? 00:14:06.000 --> 00:14:07.679 You're too emotional. 00:14:09.360 --> 00:14:14.240 You're believing your emotions too much, and you're just going for this emotional ride. 00:14:15.440 --> 00:14:19.200 Jesus was not this like emotional roller coaster of a person. 00:14:19.360 --> 00:14:21.440 He was in charge of his emotions. 00:14:22.159 --> 00:14:27.279 And so you need to get away from this pure emotionalism that your Christianity has become. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.919 And you need to get your doctrine right. 00:14:30.480 --> 00:14:38.480 Because I can hear all these weird answers to these questions, and you just don't have any real solid doctrine that you're basing your life on. 00:14:38.720 --> 00:14:43.600 Once you do that, then you will have the peace that passes understanding. 00:14:43.919 --> 00:14:49.039 Because you won't have to go for these emotional contemplative rides anymore. 00:14:49.519 --> 00:14:54.879 And so you're standing in the bookstore, and it's like, well, well, which is it? 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:57.840 Peace is on the other side of one of these books. 00:14:58.399 --> 00:15:01.519 You see, we do this all the time. 00:15:02.000 --> 00:15:16.000 We just turn the gospel into some sort of packaging for some new tool or tactic that will get us to that next step of what will really hold salvation for us. 00:15:16.960 --> 00:15:37.840 When we think of a legalist, I think that the image that comes into our head, like when we think of it of someone who's pursuing God too religiously, we picture someone who's really dour, really pessimistic, would always be like saying, like, Zach's music is too loud. 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:42.480 There shouldn't be guitar music in church, something like that. 00:15:43.200 --> 00:15:51.919 And so we might think, you know, the problem with the problem with the religious people is they're just those annoying, pessimistic, kind of backwards type of people. 00:15:52.159 --> 00:15:54.639 But here's the thing that I think we've missed it. 00:15:54.720 --> 00:16:00.000 Because the problem with legalism is not that they're too pessimistic. 00:16:00.799 --> 00:16:03.440 It's they're too optimistic. 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:19.039 When we're operating as legalists, what we're saying is our hope, our uh what real peace in my life will actually look like, what real satisfaction in Christ will look like is it's just around the corner. 00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:21.679 I'm just like one step away. 00:16:21.840 --> 00:16:35.519 I'm just this new habit that I incorporate into my life away, or I'm just this new monthly or yearly or daily rhythm away from finally having that peace in my life that I'm looking to attain to. 00:16:36.960 --> 00:16:40.080 That's wildly optimistic. 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:52.480 And what it does is it takes the message of the gospel and it treats Jesus not as a savior, but as an example. 00:16:53.519 --> 00:17:03.600 And so we look at what Jesus does and we say, that is the perfect example of how to attain to this next level of enlightenment. 00:17:04.160 --> 00:17:11.680 So we look at Jesus and we see him in the garden and we say, uh, we see we see him on the cross, and we say, wow, he's incredibly composed. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:12.799 It's kind of strange. 00:17:13.279 --> 00:17:15.759 How uh uh, what is Jesus like? 00:17:15.920 --> 00:17:19.119 You know, Jesus is like the best stoic. 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:23.759 Jesus, he's like Marcus Aurelius, he's the best stoic. 00:17:24.480 --> 00:17:32.880 And so when I look at Jesus, what I see is the perfect example of how to live through life unfazed by these crowds. 00:17:33.680 --> 00:17:36.240 Or we look at Jesus and we say, you know what? 00:17:36.559 --> 00:17:45.920 He's always in these arguments with people, and he knows exactly the right words to say to debunk this false faith that he's encountering. 00:17:46.400 --> 00:17:48.799 So Jesus is the best apologist. 00:17:50.480 --> 00:17:56.960 And you know, the thing to learn is that I can get all these answers memorized, I can figure those things out. 00:17:57.119 --> 00:18:04.079 Then, if ever I'm standing in front of somebody who doesn't share my beliefs, I know that I can prove them wrong. 00:18:04.160 --> 00:18:06.960 And I'll be just like Jesus, because he was the best at that. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:14.720 And so we think Jesus is the best apologist, or maybe he's like Mother Teresa, he's the best humanitarian. 00:18:14.960 --> 00:18:21.440 Wherever Jesus went, he was the best humanitarian, he was always healing people, he was tending towards the sick and the poor. 00:18:21.599 --> 00:18:24.000 This marked his ministry everywhere he went. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:26.079 So he's the best at helping people. 00:18:26.160 --> 00:18:27.680 So what does it mean to be a Christian? 00:18:27.839 --> 00:18:30.240 It means I'm going to be the best humanitarian. 00:18:30.319 --> 00:18:32.799 I'm going to be the best at helping people. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:35.920 Or consider he's the most enlightened. 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:37.279 He's like the Buddha. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:42.000 And so he was able to transcend to these new levels. 00:18:42.079 --> 00:18:47.599 He was constantly retreating alone at night to pray and meditate before the Lord. 00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:50.240 You know, how am I going to be like Jesus? 00:18:50.400 --> 00:18:52.400 What does Jesus the example mean? 00:18:52.559 --> 00:18:56.160 It means more time alone at night praying and meditating. 00:18:57.839 --> 00:19:01.519 All of those categories are so seductive. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:05.440 Because Jesus was the best. 00:19:06.799 --> 00:19:12.480 He was the most emotionally controlled, like the best stoic you could ever imagine. 00:19:13.119 --> 00:19:19.759 He also cried the most, like the best Epicurean you could imagine. 00:19:20.559 --> 00:19:24.319 He also was the best apologist. 00:19:24.480 --> 00:19:25.920 He was the best humanitarian. 00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:27.200 He was the most enlightened. 00:19:27.279 --> 00:19:31.119 So how could he not be just this example? 00:19:33.119 --> 00:19:37.359 The reason is he's not just an example. 00:19:38.799 --> 00:19:47.039 Jesus, unlike all of those other people, is actually our savior. 00:19:49.920 --> 00:19:53.279 When he's just an example, it's not good news. 00:19:53.920 --> 00:19:55.599 It's just crushing. 00:19:57.039 --> 00:20:12.079 But when we when he moves in our hearts from an example to be followed to savior, then he can finally become a good example and not be crushing, but be uplifting. 00:20:13.119 --> 00:20:19.119 So let's look and see how Jesus is the savior, not just an example. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:25.920 So let's start at this first verse in our section, Matthew 11, 25 through 26. 00:20:26.640 --> 00:20:29.920 And you're thinking, start, we've got to be at least halfway through. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:33.279 11, 25 to 26. 00:20:33.440 --> 00:20:46.480 At that time, Jesus declared, I thank you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that you have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to little children. 00:20:46.720 --> 00:20:50.559 Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will. 00:20:51.519 --> 00:21:00.960 So Jesus sees this disciple start to understand who he is, and he prays, thank you, God, that it's people like this who are just like little children. 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:10.079 Like you'd think, like you're being, you see like Jesus celebrating something in you, and he's like, Thank you, God, that you didn't give this to the wise and understanding. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:11.359 You're like, what? 00:21:12.960 --> 00:21:13.279 Okay. 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:22.880 But instead, you you gave this to the simple, to the unlearned, you hid these things from the wise and the understanding. 00:21:23.039 --> 00:21:29.680 You know, it's sort of thematic throughout Jesus' teaching that the people who get this, they're like kids. 00:21:30.559 --> 00:21:32.079 The children get this. 00:21:32.240 --> 00:21:34.319 The wise and understanding, they don't get it. 00:21:34.559 --> 00:21:37.759 The kids, they seem to get it. 00:21:37.920 --> 00:21:44.160 In uh 1 Corinthians, Paul writes this about the people who got the gospel. 00:21:44.319 --> 00:21:47.039 Uh he says, For consider your calling, brothers. 00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:48.319 So listen up, church. 00:21:48.480 --> 00:21:50.400 Consider your calling, church. 00:21:51.279 --> 00:21:54.640 Not many of you were wise according to worldly standards. 00:21:54.880 --> 00:21:58.880 Not many more powerful, not many were of noble birth. 00:21:59.200 --> 00:21:59.759 He goes on. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.799 To list, look, look at yourselves. 00:22:04.079 --> 00:22:05.440 You aren't special. 00:22:06.880 --> 00:22:09.279 You didn't get this because you're special. 00:22:10.000 --> 00:22:19.920 In fact, Jesus is praising God, Lord, thank you that you hid these things from the wise and the understanding. 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:24.079 These weren't the people who pieced it together themselves who got it. 00:22:24.400 --> 00:22:28.559 Instead, it was the ones who received it like kids. 00:22:29.839 --> 00:22:37.279 My son is two years old and uh like two two and two and a half or two and something. 00:22:37.680 --> 00:22:41.519 Uh and he he can't do anything. 00:22:43.839 --> 00:22:45.519 Yeah, that's right. 00:22:46.960 --> 00:22:57.759 Um he's constantly, unself-consciously, asking for very simple things. 00:22:58.720 --> 00:22:59.680 All the time. 00:23:00.960 --> 00:23:03.119 I need to watch PJ Masks. 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:07.680 And then I say, Is that how we ask? 00:23:08.000 --> 00:23:11.359 And then he says, Can we watch PJ Masks, please? 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:13.920 And I say, That's how we ask. 00:23:15.039 --> 00:23:16.480 It's called parenting. 00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:20.640 And uh then uh we turn on that cartoon for him. 00:23:20.960 --> 00:23:23.680 He can't get a snack for himself. 00:23:24.000 --> 00:23:27.119 Many of us in this room can't get meals for ourselves. 00:23:28.319 --> 00:23:29.599 But we can get a snack. 00:23:29.759 --> 00:23:35.200 He can't get a snack for himself, so he'll he's just asking, can I have a snack? 00:23:35.519 --> 00:23:37.119 And so we get him a snack. 00:23:37.279 --> 00:23:42.160 His whole day is just unself-consciously asking for things that he can't do. 00:23:42.240 --> 00:23:44.799 And the gospel is like that. 00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:48.240 The way that we relate to God is like that. 00:23:48.559 --> 00:23:53.680 Because look, I'm a lot smarter than JT. 00:23:54.960 --> 00:23:55.599 Way. 00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:03.519 But consider like the amount that I'm smarter than JT. 00:24:03.680 --> 00:24:05.039 Let's call it height, you know. 00:24:05.119 --> 00:24:06.720 I'm this much smarter. 00:24:07.279 --> 00:24:12.799 Now consider how much smarter God is than me. 00:24:14.400 --> 00:24:16.400 Like, consider the comparison. 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:18.640 You know, I'm this much smarter than JT. 00:24:18.799 --> 00:24:22.079 When God looks at us, JT and I are at least tied. 00:24:28.000 --> 00:24:37.200 So the point of that is look at look at how silly our legalism must look to God. 00:24:37.839 --> 00:24:44.079 How silly does it look when we come up to God and we're like, look, I figured out the way. 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:47.440 I figured it out, the way to get to you. 00:24:48.160 --> 00:24:54.000 I know that I'm corrupted by sin and I have a heart that's been twisted away from you. 00:24:54.160 --> 00:24:56.240 But look, I figured it out. 00:24:57.359 --> 00:25:05.359 If JT, that's my son's name, his name's actually my name, uh John Jacob Jingleheimer's man. 00:25:08.400 --> 00:25:09.279 Oh man. 00:25:12.960 --> 00:25:27.759 You know, it's funny because whenever we go out, the people say, I just got lost in my notes. 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:28.319 Okay. 00:25:33.440 --> 00:25:36.319 This is how silly our legalism sounds to God. 00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:40.799 We're these corrupted creatures, yet I figured out how to get to you. 00:25:42.000 --> 00:25:52.400 If JT, this is this was the thing I was gonna say, if JT came in and said today, like, I'm gonna fix dinner, Daddy, I would say, okay, and then my dinner plans would not change at all. 00:25:54.400 --> 00:26:00.960 And when we come to God and we're like, I figured out how to get to you, I just wasn't being contemplative enough. 00:26:01.200 --> 00:26:06.960 I was being too cerebral, or I got too much into this emotional side of Christianity. 00:26:07.039 --> 00:26:10.079 I I wasn't being uh doctrinally sound enough. 00:26:10.240 --> 00:26:12.079 Now I figured out how to get to you. 00:26:12.400 --> 00:26:17.200 God's like, great, my plans for your day have not changed. 00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:22.640 So why is Jesus praying? 00:26:22.720 --> 00:26:24.960 Why is this why is this good news? 00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:28.720 It's because this isn't special. 00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.400 Jesus doesn't require us to be special, he requires us to be like kids. 00:26:34.640 --> 00:26:44.720 I was um uh one expression of our legalism, this is a way that I told Zach, make it something personal because I'm gonna do that today. 00:26:44.960 --> 00:26:46.960 So I didn't want to be alone. 00:26:47.119 --> 00:27:00.160 And so I uh uh one of the ways that legalism expresses itself in our hearts is that uh we reduce Christianity to just this list of answers to be known. 00:27:00.559 --> 00:27:05.920 And a lot of us can develop this hope that eventually I'll just know all the answers. 00:27:06.000 --> 00:27:12.160 And once I know all the answers, I'll be able to come before God and say, look, see, I figured out all the answers. 00:27:12.319 --> 00:27:14.720 Now I require no faith. 00:27:14.960 --> 00:27:17.119 I can just stand and know. 00:27:18.559 --> 00:27:20.720 And that sounds really peaceful. 00:27:21.119 --> 00:27:27.359 And I think that that type of idol seduces a lot of our hearts, and that really seduces my heart. 00:27:27.680 --> 00:27:38.240 When I uh uh I went to school at CU Boulder and I studied philosophy there, and a lot of my drive for studying philosophy was looking forward to that moment. 00:27:38.960 --> 00:27:51.759 Maybe if I get in front of all of these really challenging questions and I learn how to state the answers to why the problem of evil doesn't work or why we can know that God really exists. 00:27:51.839 --> 00:27:57.359 And if I could stand in those answers, then I wouldn't require this faith anymore. 00:27:57.519 --> 00:27:58.799 I could just know. 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:03.839 And so I pursued that exhaustively. 00:28:05.119 --> 00:28:09.680 My goal became the answers to have a defensible Christianity. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:13.519 And the process was completely exhausting. 00:28:13.839 --> 00:28:21.440 And it resulted in me knowing, look, a lot more answers, and my heart not really changing. 00:28:21.759 --> 00:28:25.440 I was not more loving, more joyful, more patient, more kind. 00:28:25.759 --> 00:28:31.200 And uh this got revealed to me in two ways through two different people. 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:39.200 So the first of the first way was through a uh friend who really took me under his wing and discipled me uh throughout college. 00:28:39.279 --> 00:28:40.559 His name was David Billingsley. 00:28:40.720 --> 00:28:42.480 He's been here to speak before. 00:28:42.720 --> 00:29:01.039 And one day in a Starbucks, we were uh meeting together, and he we went through this article that Tim Keller had written about how the gospel is different from religion and irreligion, which would be a great topic for a couple of sermons. 00:29:02.240 --> 00:29:14.079 And he knew what he was doing, and he led me to see that this drive for these answers was in no way an expression of my faith. 00:29:14.480 --> 00:29:22.720 When I looked at, I said, like, I'm the Christian who's courageous enough to not take no for an answer, try and get these answers. 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:31.039 But I wasn't, I was pursuing answers like that strictly from fear. 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:40.640 It was a fear of actually having to stand in my faith as myself. 00:29:41.759 --> 00:29:50.079 Because what I wanted to say is if you really looked into it, this would be self-evident for you too. 00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:53.119 That's what I wanted to be able to say. 00:29:53.839 --> 00:29:58.720 Because then, if it's just self-evident for anybody, I don't have any skin in the game. 00:29:59.920 --> 00:30:12.720 But instead, God has structured things in such a way where we don't just get to have a hermetically sealed gospel with this clean list of answers. 00:30:13.519 --> 00:30:25.359 Instead, he makes us stand with Jesus, saying to him, I didn't have enough to come up with these answers, but Jesus is enough. 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:31.519 So David Billingsley, that one, that was a good one. 00:30:31.759 --> 00:30:34.079 The next was my wife. 00:30:34.240 --> 00:30:42.079 Um we don't live stream anymore, and Jay JT is sick at home and she's at home with him, so I can say whatever I want. 00:30:44.480 --> 00:30:50.400 Um, college, skiing, we fell in love. 00:30:50.880 --> 00:30:59.279 And we uh uh her personality, her disposition is so radically different from mine. 00:30:59.839 --> 00:31:01.440 Uh I'm a preacher. 00:31:01.759 --> 00:31:04.319 She's not even an auditory learner. 00:31:09.039 --> 00:31:15.599 And so uh we uh she has this faith that is just so different from mine. 00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:21.519 It's it's more compassionate, it's more involved, much more interested in people, much less interested in ideas. 00:31:21.839 --> 00:31:30.720 And we started going to premarital counseling, and I realized how I had used my theology against her. 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:37.920 I had mistaken loving to read theology for being a good Christian. 00:31:38.640 --> 00:31:50.240 And so when she didn't think that was being a good Christian, I would always be talking down to her about it, holding her to these expectations that were just not in her disposition at all. 00:31:50.400 --> 00:31:54.720 And it took the uh uh this guy, his name's Chase Davis. 00:31:54.799 --> 00:31:57.119 He's a pastor of a church in Boulder called the Well. 00:31:57.440 --> 00:32:01.039 And it took him like 30 seconds to piece together what was going on. 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:03.519 And he said the most offensive thing to me. 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:05.599 He said, You know what your theology is? 00:32:05.759 --> 00:32:09.279 And I was like, the highest expression of my love for Jesus. 00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:14.480 And he was like, No, you know what your theology is? 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:15.920 It's a hobby. 00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:18.640 It's a nice hobby. 00:32:18.880 --> 00:32:20.000 We all have hobbies. 00:32:20.079 --> 00:32:21.440 It's good to have a hobby. 00:32:21.599 --> 00:32:25.039 Does your wife have to have all the same hobbies that you have? 00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:30.880 And and the I could tell by his tone that the answer was no. 00:32:37.200 --> 00:33:00.160 So I had turned this thing that it's not a bad thing, it's a good thing, uh into this thing of like pursuing these answers, into a way to eliminate having to have real faith, a way to stand on my own two feet instead of depending on Jesus. 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:05.200 And then I had used that to hurt the person that I said I cared about most. 00:33:05.839 --> 00:33:08.240 Because I was using it to justify myself. 00:33:08.480 --> 00:33:18.640 So when I was using it to justify myself, I was at the same time using it to put her down and to put down anyone else who didn't have these same dispositions. 00:33:20.240 --> 00:33:29.839 Our legalism turns us inward on ourselves as it teaches us to look to things that aren't Jesus. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:35.119 So, what do we look to then? 00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:37.920 So it's good to not be wise. 00:33:38.160 --> 00:33:41.359 It's good to be more like a kid when we're coming to God. 00:33:41.519 --> 00:33:44.559 But then how is it that we could ever really know God? 00:33:44.799 --> 00:33:47.920 Jesus gives us this amazing breakdown in this next verse. 00:33:48.079 --> 00:33:54.000 Like, like all of what it is to know God, that's an overstatement, is in this next verse. 00:33:54.480 --> 00:34:01.519 It says in Matthew 11, 27, it says, All things have been handed over to me by my Father. 00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:03.759 This is Jesus talking. 00:34:04.079 --> 00:34:07.440 And no one knows the Son except the Father. 00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:15.519 And no one knows the Father except the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to reveal him. 00:34:16.239 --> 00:34:27.440 All right, so first, we're operating under this assumption, right, that the only true satisfaction in life is knowing God. 00:34:28.159 --> 00:34:29.840 What is eternal life? 00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:33.119 It's knowing the Father and the Son whom he sent. 00:34:33.280 --> 00:34:40.719 The only true satisfaction for the human heart, for our souls, really, really, is to know God. 00:34:42.960 --> 00:34:45.039 So then how do we do that? 00:34:45.519 --> 00:34:53.360 Well, you get this incredible sort of Trinitarian play that Jesus does in this verse. 00:34:53.440 --> 00:34:58.079 And he says, first of all, all things have been handed over to me by my Father. 00:34:58.400 --> 00:35:04.960 So that means that everything that God the Father has has been given to Jesus. 00:35:06.559 --> 00:35:08.079 All the things. 00:35:08.559 --> 00:35:10.239 So what does God the Father have? 00:35:10.400 --> 00:35:11.840 You can just throw some out there. 00:35:11.920 --> 00:35:14.000 What are some things you think God the Father has? 00:35:15.599 --> 00:35:18.239 Okay, yeah, I couldn't think of anything either. 00:35:20.639 --> 00:35:28.239 Okay, so how about his eternity, his justice, his mercy, God is love. 00:35:28.639 --> 00:35:33.679 All of these things, the love of the Father has been handed over to Jesus. 00:35:33.840 --> 00:35:38.559 The deity, the Godness is in Jesus. 00:35:38.719 --> 00:35:42.800 This claim, some people say like Jesus never claimed to be God. 00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:44.480 It's all he ever did. 00:35:44.719 --> 00:35:47.199 It's like the only thing he ever does. 00:35:47.360 --> 00:35:50.159 All things have been handed over to me by my father. 00:35:50.400 --> 00:35:52.400 All that God has, I have. 00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:57.440 Next, and no one knows the son except the Father. 00:35:57.679 --> 00:36:00.800 So our only hope is in knowing God. 00:36:00.960 --> 00:36:03.360 That's the only place that satisfaction rests. 00:36:03.679 --> 00:36:08.880 But the only one who really knows God is this is God. 00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:11.519 It's the Father and the Son, and they are both God. 00:36:11.599 --> 00:36:14.000 And so it's the Son's knowledge of the Father. 00:36:14.079 --> 00:36:15.519 He's the only one who knows. 00:36:15.840 --> 00:36:18.480 So that's kind of a bummer for us, right? 00:36:18.559 --> 00:36:19.599 Let's keep reading. 00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:22.960 And no one knows the father except the son. 00:36:23.199 --> 00:36:27.599 Okay, so the son is the one uh who knows the father also. 00:36:28.000 --> 00:36:33.679 And this is a this is an amazing and all of our hope is in this and. 00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:39.679 And anyone to whom the son chooses to reveal him. 00:36:40.800 --> 00:36:43.039 We can't know God the Father. 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:45.519 We can't just walk up to God and know him. 00:36:45.679 --> 00:37:02.320 We the the greatest philosopher in the world, the most uh the highest intellect in all of creation will not be able to attain to the knowledge of God unless God became something like us, unless God became a man and he was both. 00:37:02.559 --> 00:37:07.440 That way, when we knew that man who was God, we could say we really knew God. 00:37:07.679 --> 00:37:12.320